Make Love, Not War
by Xiaaa
Summary: POST DH. It's Lily's fifth year at Hogwarts and life is harder than ever. Boys, Homework, Family, Scorpius, a new generation of Death Eaters, and an accident at school makes life seem both interesting and scary at the same time. Bad at summaries, sorry.
1. Another Year Begins

**DH SPOILERS**. It's Lily's fifth year at Hogwarts and life is harder than ever. She not only has to worry about homework, OWLs, and BOYS, but she also has to worry about her family and her friends. Dark times are settling across the wizarding world leaving fear in it's wake. Mainly **Lily/Scorpius**, with minor pairings on the side. This fic will get darker...

**A/N**: This is my first fic, so I'd appreciate any constructive criticism. )

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, then I don't own it. Unfortunately.

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**Chapter One **

It was September first again, and Lily Potter was scanning her room for any last minute belongings that she would need to take to Hogwarts for her fifth year. Spotting a lone red and gold knee sock under her bed, she bent down to retrieve it. She was about to fling it carelessly into her still open suitcase when suddenly, a movement on the sock caught her eye. Immediately, she dropped the sock onto the floor like it was a piece of hot coal, and jumped onto the bed, shrieking like a banshee.

Scuttling quickly across her hardwood floor was the most grotesque spider she had ever seen. It was covered in dirty brown hair, and you could see a puke green color peeking out from underneath all the fuzz. Its eight long, spindly legs were all bent at odd angles and were all different lengths. It had a pair of eyes on its head and another eye on its back. Lily briefly wondered if it had an eye on its stomach, too, before realizing all to late that the spider seemed to be headed right towards her suitcase.

"MUM," she shouted, clearly horrified, "Get up here fast, and bring your wand!" Lily could hear her Mum bustling about in the foyer, fussing over her brother, Albus Severus; Lily wondered if she had even heard her. Frustrated, Lily tried again. Taking in a deep breath, she shouted even louder this time: "MOTHER! GET UP HERE NOW, AND I MEAN IT!"

"OI," another voice shouted, "Could you shout any louder? My windows AND my eardrums are rattling." It was Lily's other brother, James, who had graduated from Hogwarts two years back. Lily narrowed her eyes. She was willing to bet all the money in her family's Gringotts account that James had something to do with the spider, but before she could think about it anymore, her mother huffed into the room.

"What is it _now_, Lily? You know we don't have time for this, the Hogwarts express it leaving in less than an hour!"

Lily pointed to her suitcase across the room. "That's what's up." She watched her mother follow her finger to the spider that was now making its home inside the folds of parchment in the suitcase.

Lily watched amusedly as her mother's face go from interested curiosity, to slight confusion, to a look of pure disgust. "That has got to be the most...the most...the grossest thing...since...since...oh, I don't know!" Her mother exclaimed, giving up, and instead just gawking, speechless, at the creature. Lily coughed impatiently.

"So, uh, what are we going to do about it?" Lily asked her mum, her chocolate brown eyes boring into her mother's head. Ginny snapped out of her reverie and regained her composure.

"Let me go run and get Harry." With that, she left Lily standing alone on her bed.

About a minute later, A man with messy, jet-black hair and bright, green eyes swept quickly into the room. He raised his eyebrows when he saw the strange spider, but nevertheless, he lifted his wand as well. Levitating the spider with a swish and a flick, she turned to Lily and told her to open the window. Lily scurried from her bed, an pushed the window open. She stepped out of the way as her father gently guided the spider out of the window and landed it neatly outside of the white picket fence surrounding their yard. Both Ginny and Lily let out a sigh of relief.

However, that relief was, evidently, only momentary. Albus Severus, who had been waiting impatiently in the foyer was glancing uneasily at his wristwatch. The Hogwarts Express was going to leave in less than half an hour! Clearing his throat and speaking loudly, he asked his mum, rather innocently, if she happened to have the time. Hardly two seconds had passed since he had posed that question when there was a very loud shriek. Well actually, three matching shrieks-- His mum's, his dad's, and his sister's-- followed by a very frantic, "Merlin's beard! The train's going to leave without you lot on there! We've got to go, NOW." Albus smiled to himself as he heard his mother muttering a few choice words under her breath, and then reprimanding Lily when she followed in her example.

The Potters had planned on reaching Kings Cross in their trusty second-hand muggle car, but given their time frame, they decided instead, to flag down the Knight Bus. The Knight Bus, though fast, had left the Potter family out of breath, from trying to keep all their belongings from hitting the other passengers atop their heads, so they were all quite relieved when they finally reached Platform 9 ╬ with approximately eight minutes to spare.

Harry, Ginny, and James watched with amusement as Albus and Lily lugged their bags onto the train with difficulty. Feeling pity for the two of them, Ginny casually flicked her wand at the bags, and they immediately became almost weightless. However, just as the bags had become light as a feather, Lily gave an almighty tug and lost her balance completely. When Albus had heard her squeal, he whirled around to find that he was too late to catch her. He watched in horror as the scene before him played out in slow motion: Lily was toppling backwards, her eyes wide as saucers. Suddenly, she was suspended in air.

Well, Albus had thought she was. Except for two pale, slender hands and a bored, drawling voice that commented with dry amusement, "Well, well, well...look at what I've caught. Potter and, well, Potter. Feeling a bit clumsy and slow today, are we?"

Albus stared at the blond haired wizard with unadulterated dislike, while Lily seemed to be in shock. Scorpius Malfoy sneered at Albus and said, "What? Did you get hexed lately? Is that why you're looking so daft? Oh wait, you always look like that, Potter, I forgot it runs in the family. You're lucky I caught her." With that said, he pushed Lily back towards Albus and stalked off in the opposite direction.

"Lily! Are you okay? I mean, I'm so sorry, it was just happening to fast, and I didn't really even realize that you had lost your balance, and when I turned around, I was rooted to the spot, and I don't know, I just couldn't seem to be able to move, much less catch you, I mean, I don't know what would've happened if that git hadn't caught you, and oh, it's all my fault, I should've just--"

"ALBUS. Shut up."

"Oh, okay then. Well, Mum must've just charmed the bags to be weightless so let's go grab a compartment so we can go say goodbye." Albus grabbed both of their bags and set off in search of an empty compartment. At the second to last compartment, and he stopped. "Here, this one's empty."

Nudging the door open with his foot, he thrust the bags onto the seats. "C'mon, let's go." He turned on his heel and started to walk back towards his mum, dad, and brother.

When Lily and Albus reached them, Ginny immediately attached herself onto Lily, and was talking to her in near hysterical tones. "Oh, Lily dear! I really didn't mean to. I just wanted to help..." She continued on, unaware that Lily and her father were exchanging exasperated glances.

"Mum, honestly, it's fine. I'm alive, aren't I?"

"Well..." James interjected, "I saw that someone caught you. Who was that, anyway?" Lily blushed and murmured something unintelligible. "What? I didn't quite catch that, Lils."

"Oh, it was no one really," she said in a light, offhanded tone, "Just this boy two years ahead of me." James narrowed his eyes at her and growled menacingly. Lily seemed to quake under his unwavering gaze. "Um, well, if you must know, it was, uh, Malfoy..."

James nodded, "Oh, alright, just point him out to me when you guys get back for Christmas holidays, and I'll thank him." Hearing Lily sigh with relief, he realized that something wasn't right. He did a double take. "WHAT?!" He yelped, "Malfoy? He did what?! That bloody git, the next time I see him, I am going to pound his smug little pale, pointy, face in!"

Albus and Lily simultaneously rolled their eyes and looked at each other. They turned away from James and focused their attention on their parents. They reached up to embrace both of them, for a group hug when suddenly, the Hogwarts Express gave an almighty lurch, and started moving forwards ever so slowly. At once, Ginny was ushering them onto the train, "Be good! And do your homework! And study hard! And stay out of trouble! Don't do anything that me or Harry wouldn't do!" Ginny fell behind as the Hogwarts Express began gaining speed. She was waving to them like there was no tomorrow, with tears streaming down her face as Harry stood with his arm around her, grinning and waving, though not as frantically as his wife. James however, stood behind Ginny and Harry, and made gagging gestures at their back.

Albus and Lily had watched them until they were out of sight. Shaking his head, Albus said, "You would've thought that she'd be used to us leaving every year. I mean, really, she doesn't have to cry, does she? It's a bit embarrassing, to tell you the truth." Lily nodded half-heartedly and sat down wondering when their friends would start showing up.

Even though she and Al were in different years, they still managed to be good friends with each other. This also meant that all of her friends got along with Al's friends as well, and vice versa, forming a large 'clan' of Gryffindor students who would go to great lengths to protect each other. This was a good thing because lately, there had been whisperings of another group. A dark group that was supposedly calling themselves the next generation of death eaters. Lily shivered slightly at the thought. Albus didn't notice, though, because at the moment, the compartment door had burst open, and there was a very loud squeal.

"LILS! It's been AGES! I have SO much to tell you! I don't know if I'm EVER going to find the time to update you on ALL of the comings and goings of my summer! I mean, I've been SO absolutely busy, and EVERYTHING has just been so HECTIC..." Lily let her mind wander off. She looked at her best friend, to see if she had changed any during the summer holidays. She had. Well, she had appearance-wise, at least. (Adrienne Euan definitely still talked the same way as she used to--when you listened to her talk, you could actually hear the words being said in all capital letters.) Adrienne's appearance was definitely different. She had filled out a little during the summer, and she wasn't as gangly and thin as she used to be. Her brown hair was shiny and wavy, reaching a point a little past her shoulders. Her eyes were no longer covered by glasses, and her deep hazel eyes stood out clearly on her pale face. And her freckles! Adrienne's freckles were gone!

"Adrienne." Lily stated simply, "What happened to your freckles? I want to get rid of mine, too."

Adrienne looked at Lily dismissively, "Oh, my freckles? My mum gave some kind of creme that I put on them, and they disappeared after a bit, but ANYWAYS, back to my story..." Albus coughed, and exchanged amused glances with Lily.

By the time they were nearing Hogwarts, the entire group had all, at one point been inside that compartment. At the moment, the compartment was occupied by Lily, Adrienne, Maylene Belby (She had a twin sister, Marlene, in Ravenclaw), Marisol Brocklehurst, Rose Weasley, Albus, Landon Briggs, Laurence Longbottom, Hugo Weasley and Evan Creevey. It was a relaxed atmosphere, and Lily was having a splendid time with her closest friends. When Prefects began knocking on doors to tell them to start changing into their robes, everyone except for Lily, Albus, and Adrienne parted. As the three of them changed (with Albus facing the opposite direction), they chattered excitedly about the upcoming feast.

"...hope the sorting is over quickly today, I'm STARVED."

"_You're_ starved? I didn't even get to eat breakfast this morning because there was this enormous spider we couldn't get rid of..."

"Personally, I don't think you girls are nearly as hungry as I am. After all, I _am_ a growing boy. I'm so hungry right now, that I bet I could polish off the entire kitchen if the house elves would let me have a go at it."

Lily and Adrienne rolled their eyes at each other. "Oh, I bet we could eat the entire kitchen, too, if we had the chance."

Albus slowly turned around the face them. "Is that so? Then how about today, during the feast, we have a little eating contest, to see who can eat the most..." He saw the two girls glance at each other for a split second. "What do you say?"

"You're on."

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**A/N**: Is this worthy of any reviews?


	2. Potions and Packages

**A/N**: GUYS! I'm so sorry I haven't updated in ages. I don't even have a good reason for not writing unless you count chain-reading books a good reason, which it really isn't, to be honest, especially since it was HP I was reading. Anyway, here's Chapter 2! I hope it meets expectations! If there's some parts that don't make sense, or if I have random grammatical mistakes, I'm just going to say sorry ahead of time: Sorry! It was sort of late when I wrote this. Like three o'clock late. Okay. Sorry, this time for rambling. Read on! )

**Disclaimer: **If you recognize it, I don't own it.

**Chapter Two**

"Zellar, Boris."

A small boy stumbled over to the three-legged stool and allowed the hat to be placed gently over his head. After about twenty seconds, the ragged sorting hat made its decision. "HUFFLEPUFF!" The Hufflepuff table erupted into cheers, wholeheartedly welcoming their newest arrival. Boris stood from the stool, and ambled across the great hall to his table.

"Finally!" Albus whispered to Lily, "I --"

Unfortunately, Lily never got to hear what Albus was because at that moment, Professor McGonagall stood up, and the great hall became relatively quiet. "Welcome," She said magnificently, "To a new year at Hogwarts. There is a list of announcements to be made, but since I trust everyone in here is hungry, you are welcome to _dig in_!"

At her words, food appeared on the tables and a wonderful mix of mouthwatering aromas flitted around the students. Lily looked at the food, and tried to decide what she wanted. She spotted a large, fluffy biscuit. It looked perfect. She reached her hand across the table, and we about to take it when suddenly, it disappeared! She turned around to face Albus, planning on telling him off for taking the biscuit when she noticed that it was already gone!

"Albus," She whined, "That was supposed to be _my_ biscuit!"

"Ophms. I'm fo-wee," Albus forced out before swallowing, and saying, "Oops, sorry; here, you can have my garlic bread instead." He threw it onto her plate, and resumed his attack on the rest of the food.

Lily sighed and picked up her garlic bread. She had really wanted that biscuit. Nevertheless, she took a bite of the garlic bread. It was delicious! About thirty seconds later, the whole thing was sitting at the bottom of her stomach.

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"I ate the most," Albus announced proudly, "You guys didn't even stand a chance!"

"You only THINK you ate more than we did because we were eating so FAST that you wouldn't even be ABLE to see the food we were shoveling into our mouths!" Adrienne argued back, "I'd have to say that it was a tie between Lily and me. Come to think of it, we probably ate more than half the Gryffindor table!" Lily nodded mutely next to her friend, agreeing. Albus just scoffed and muttered something quietly that sounded strangely like 'girls'.

When most of the students had eaten their fill, and the clanking and clattering of silverware died down, Professor McGonagall stood up again.

"If I could have your attention…I have several announcements that need to be made, so listen carefully. This year, Mr. Filch would like me to remind everyone that there are now 793 items on the banned objects list posted outside his door, and that anyone who is found to have any of those items will be punished accordingly. Secondly, the 'no magic in the halls' policy will be strictly enforced this year. Anyone who is seen to have broken this rule will earn a not-very-pleasant visit to my office. I will have zero tolerance for that sort of immature behavior. And lastly, the Forbidden Forest is still banned, and let me remind you that it is more dangerous than ever, so please think before setting foot in there. The dates of the quidditch tryouts will be posted sometime next week in the common rooms -- first years will not be permitted to try out." The professor's keen eyes swept across the great hall. "Prefects, please show the first years to their dormitories," she said, "That is all."

Being a prefect, Adrienne leapt out of her seat and hurried to help the first year Gryffindors up to the Gryffindor tower. Albus and Lily, on the other hand, got up more slowly. Their stomachs were full, and they could barely walk. They trudged up to the seventh floor and said the password that Adrienne had told them to use (mandrake root). Upon entering the common room, Albus and Lily bid each other good night and headed towards their appropriate rooms.

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**"…LILY, LILY; OPEN YOUR EYES.**

**LILY, LILY; IT'S TIME TO RISE!**

**LILY, LILY; OPEN YOUR EYES.**

**LILY, LILY; IT'S TIME TO RISE!**

**LILY, LILY; OPEN YOUR EYES.**

**LILY, LILY; IT'S TIME TO RISE!…**"

After about five minutes of that horrid chanting, she had finally decided to get up. "Shut up!" She finally roared at her enchanted alarm clock. It complied. Lily got out of bed grumbling to herself and glared at the clock, which was now sitting innocently on her bed stand. She continued to threaten the clock under her breath. Grabbing a bathrobe and her towel, Lily made a way to the bathroom to shower.

Forty five minutes later, Lily was knocking impatiently on the bathroom door. "Adrienne! We're going to miss breakfast if you don't hurry up!" The door swung open. Adrienne stepped out, looking annoyed.

"GEEZ, can't a girl get some time to get ready? Let's go."

The two witches grabbed their wands and their schoolbags and headed to breakfast.

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Now seated comfortably at the Gryffindor table, Adrienne, Albus, Hugo, and Lily chatted amiably to each other. As the owl post started to arrive, Lily looked up and was surprised to see her regal looking owl come swooping down, dropping a letter and a package on her plate.

Albus looked over, curious, "Who's that from?"

"That's weird…It's from James. He never writes to me! Do you reckon something happened to mum or dad?!"

Albus looked at her with solemn eyes, "Well, there's no way to find out unless you open it."

Unable to wait any longer, Lily unfolded the parchment and scanned the letter:

_My dearest Lillikins,_

_I hope waking up to that alarm clock I got you was pleasant. It took me a long time to bewitch it to make it talk like me. Anyways, as you may have noticed, I've sent a package to you. Well, DON'T OPEN IT. It's not for you. Sorry, kiddo. Maybe next time. The package is actually for the Malfoy boy. Tell him it's a thank you gift from me for him catching you before you fell. Well, that's it; enjoy your first day back!_

_Much love, James._

Albus, who had been reading over Lily's shoulder picked up the parcel, weighing it carefully in his hands. "I wonder what this is…hey, do you want me to give this to him for you? He's bound to be in at least one of my classes…" Lily nodded, still deep in thought. _What could it be?_

Before she could spend more time thinking about it though, Professor Longbottom was making his way down the Gryffindor table, handing out schedules. When Lily received hers, she skimmed through the classes. She had potions first.

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Potions was one of Lily's favorite subjects. It was taught by Professor Arsenius Sudopest, a middle aged man with an ever growing waistline. Today, the first words out of his mouth were: "Simmer down, children, simmer down..." When the class finally quieted, he began.

"Potions is a magic more magnificent than, perhaps, any other type of magic. If brewed with the correct ingredients, precise directions, excessive creativity, and unadulterated passion, the potion will be successful in creating any effect you want it to. They can, as you know, cure sicknesses, create luck, and imitate love. Some say that particular potions may even be able to stop death. So here," Professor Sudopest flicked his wand at the board so that words appeared, "Are some instructions; the first table that correctly brews and deciphers what this potion is will receive something very special next lesson. You may begin." There was a mad rush to the storage cabinet at his words. Everyone wanted to finish first—Professor Sudopest was known for his excellent taste in prizes.

Ten minutes prior to the end of class, Lily and Adrienne surveyed their work. The potion, despite overwhelming heat, was not boiling: the cauldron was hot, but the potion itself was rather cool. Its smooth cerulean blue surface was slightly obscured by a thin layer of orange mist. The potion had an intoxicating scent. Lily bent a little closer to the potion and gently wafted scent to her nose and inhaled. She was expecting a sweet smell, but instead, she received an unpleasant surprise. With the potion at such a close proximity, all Lily could smell was a pungent odor that made her retch. Lily quickly sat back in her chair, gasping for clean air through her mouth.

"That was one of the foulest, most vile thing that has ever drifted up my nose." She said, scrunching up her nose, not at all concealing her disgust. "That smelled vulgar and cr--:" Lily stopped mid sentence, a look of comprehension dawning on her face. "Professor Sudopest! I've got the answer!" The professor nodded, signaling her to continue. "The potion you have asked us to make is _Venenum Varietas_, or _The Potion of Differences_ . If this potion is made correctly, it will take two polar opposites, and then, the potion will, uh-- how should I say this? The potion will, er, find a way to intertwine these two human's destiny, bringing them together no matter the circumstances. This potion was invented by Marscopoy Flius just one and a half years ago. There is no known potion that will reverse the effects of this one." Lily took a deep breath. "Did I miss anything, sir?"

Professor Sudopest looked moderately impressed at Lily's lengthy response. "No, you did not." He strode purposefully up the aisle to Adrienne and Lily's cauldron. "My, this is perfectly made; even I didn't get this at first..." Looking up at Lily and Adrienne, he said to them, "This is outrageous!" At the look on the two girls' faces, he hastily added, "In a good way, of course. Let me see you two after class."

To the rest of the students, he called out, "Put up the equipment, bottle your potions, and return to your seats. These potions will be graded, but the marks won't be counted. This potion was given to you guys to assess how well you all are doing and the level you guys are working at."

When at long last the bell sounded, Lily and Adrienne approached their professor's desk. Adrienne looked apprehensive, but Lily looked a bit excited. The professor regarded the two girls impassively before breaking the silence among them. "That potion was very advanced. I doubt many of my NEWT students would even have been able to make it, much less on their first go...You two, have incredible talent, and I'd love to--"

Adrienne interrupted him. "Excuse me, sir, but I don't think I deserve all this praise. I mean, I helped get some ingredients, and I read the instructions off the board to Lily, you know, all the small tasks, while she did all these complicated things with her wand. If anyone deserves most of the credit, it's Lily." Lily blushed right on cue, and tried to deny it. But Adrienne wouldn't hear of it. "Lily, LISTEN. You and I both know that I'm completely LOUSY at potions. I'm good at some menial tasks, like picking the best quality ingredients, or cutting roots and stuff up evenly, but the truth is, most of the potion was YOUR doing. You SHOULD get most of the credit."

The professor looked between the two girls for what seemed like the thousandth time. "Well, in that case, Ms. Euan, could you kindly wait outside for your friend? It'll only take a minute." Adrienne shot Lily a couple of questioning glances before turning around and heading towards the door. "Oh, and Ms. Euan? Thanks for being honest." Adrienne nodded, and stepped out the door, closing it behind her.

Focusing his attention back on Lily, Professor Sudopest looked at her seriously. "I asked you to stay behind because I want to offer you a place in my NEWT class. You, without doubt, know what you're doing, and you also seem to have a liking for the subject. I think this is the first time a student has been offered a place in a NEWT class without even taking the OWLs yet, but I really think you could do it." Lily's jaw dropped a couple of inches, and Professor Sudopest kindly pushed it back up for her. "Well? What do you say?"

"I—uh—me, ummm—NEWT—seventh years—my brother..." Lily continued to stutter out of pure shock. "Wait, WHAT?"

The professor smiled kindly. "It's going to be tough. I'll tell you that. I won't sugar coat it for you. You'll have tons and tons of homework and a couple of projects, in class and out of class, as well as challenging potions to concoct during class. Many seventh years can't handle the pressure and drop out, but I don't think you will. I mean, I don't want to sound cliché or anything, but I really have so much faith in you, so just think about it, will you?"

Before Lily could even think about it, words came tumbling out of her mouth, seemingly without her control. "I'll do it," she said, "I'll be looking forwards to it."

With that, she turned and exited through the doors.

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"So he wants YOU in his NEWT class?" Adrienne asked incredulously, her hazel eyes wide as saucers. "That's INCREDIBLE!" The pillow Adrienne was summoning rocketed past her and hit Professor Flitwick on the back of his head.

"Adrienne! Watch where your pillow's going! And keep it down! I don't want the whole world knowing about potions...Anyways, I told him that I'd do it. I mean, it'll be fun: I'll even be able to bother Albus."

"Hah. Very funny, Lily. But do you know what this means? I'll be in potions ALL alone! I won't even have a table partner. I'll FAIL. I just know it! I mean, I would NEVER have been able to get this far in potions if it weren't for you, and now I won't have you whispering pointers into my ear anymore, and I just KNOW I'm probably going to have to go back to FIRST year potions! Then I'll be the laughing stock of the Gryffindor House!"

Lily hadn't thought of that. She had acted upon her own selfishness and accepted the offer. "Well," she said, desperately trying to find a way to redeem herself, "I could tutor you...That is, if you want..." Lily smiled as she saw her friend's face light up with a smile.

Now in a good mood, Adrienne chattered away noisily about something material and rather pointless. Lily hummed a little song by the Weird Sisters while charming a large pillow to trail behind Flitwick, making sure it didn't hit him. He was reaching an old age, and Lily didn't want to be responsible for his death if he fell over.

At the end of class, Flitwick gave them a one and a half foot essay to write about summoning charms. The class gave a collective groan as the bell signaling lunch rang. Lily and Adrienne picked up their belongs and headed for the Great Hall.

Only, they never made it there because standing in front of them, and looking particularly menacing, was Scorpius Malfoy.

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** Dum, dum, DUM...**

Okay. just kidding. So this chapter's over. Hope it wasn't terrible.

I'd just like to thank Death-God-777, Silver Sailor Ganymede, and Jordanne for the nice things they said. I got this fluttery feeling in my stomach everytime I read them. haha. So thanks! And I hope I didn't disappoint...

Anyway, school starts next week, unfortunately. And I have to write my summer reading essays (also unfortunate), but I'll seriously try to write more. Honestly.

Until next time, loves. ;D


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